Cost of living comparison

Aruba

compared to

Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands vs. Aruba Cost of Living Summary

Virgin Islands is 41.9% more expensive than Aruba overall.

Restaurants: pay 21.7% more in Virgin Islands
Groceries: pay 2.0 times more in Virgin Islands
Transportation: pay 16.3% more in Virgin Islands
Housing: pay 23.2% more in Virgin Islands
Childcare: pay 2.7 times more in Virgin Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.0% more in Virgin Islands
Clothing: pay 37.3% more in Virgin Islands

The cost of childcare, groceries, clothing, entertainment and sports, housing, and restaurants in Virgin Islands are more expensive than in Aruba. Notably, childcare and groceries are significantly more expensive in Virgin Islands.

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Virgin Islands vs. Aruba Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Virgin Islands instead of Aruba, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 21.7% more for restaurants

	Aruba	Virgin Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.08 AWG36.18	$23.12	+15.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.39 AWG18.71	$12.83	+23.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28 AWG4.11	$3.25	+42.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.96 AWG3.52	$2.47	+26.1%
Average			+21.7%

Aruba vs. Virgin Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.0 times more for groceries

	Aruba	Virgin Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$2.95 AWG5.31	$6.72	+127.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.50 AWG11.71	$5.66	-12.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.74 AWG12.15	$10.73	+59.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.17 AWG9.31	$9.63	+86.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.45 AWG6.21	$8.79	+154.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.10 AWG3.78	$3.90	+85.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.98 AWG1.77	$5.00	+408.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.27 AWG4.09	$3.75	+65.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 AWG2.86	$5.89	+270.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 AWG1.82	$0.87	-14.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 AWG1.64	$3.07	+237.6%
Average			+103.7%

Aruba vs. Virgin Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.3% more for transportation

	Aruba	Virgin Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.17 AWG16.51	$5.03	-45.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00 AWG54.04	$60.00	+100.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,095.70 AWG47,004.88	$50,000.00	+91.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$48.03 AWG86.51	$44.85	-6.6%
Average			+16.3%

Aruba vs. Virgin Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.2% more for housing

	Aruba	Virgin Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$95.25 AWG171.58	$100.17	+5.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,027.78 AWG1,851.28	$1,283.33	+24.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,183.33 AWG2,131.48	$1,200.00	+1.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$187.84 AWG338.36	$395.95	+110.8%
Average			+23.2%

Aruba vs. Virgin Islands - Cost of housing

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pay 2.7 times more for childcare

	Aruba	Virgin Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$275.00 AWG495.34	$1,500.00	+445.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,223.55 AWG23,818.92	$17,750.00	+34.2%
Average			+170.6%

Aruba vs. Virgin Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Aruba	Virgin Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.64 AWG10.17	$6.38	+13.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.73 AWG8.52	$6.17	+30.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.00 AWG18.01	$5.00	-50.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.22 AWG112.08	$181.25	+191.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.94 AWG21.50	$11.00	-7.9%
Average			+29.0%

Aruba vs. Virgin Islands - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.3% more for clothing

	Aruba	Virgin Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.00 AWG108.08	$82.50	+37.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.85 AWG104.21	$81.00	+40.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.41 AWG206.07	$145.00	+26.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.90 AWG185.35	$150.00	+45.8%
Average			+37.3%

Aruba vs. Virgin Islands - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Aruba vs. Virgin Islands

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Virgin Islands?

Quality of Life Comparison · 8 statistics

Be 33.2% less likely to have internet access in Virgin Islands

Size Comparison · See true size

Aruba is about 11 times smaller than Virgin Islands.

Moving from Aruba to Virgin Islands · UN DESA 2020

500 people born in Aruba live in Virgin Islands.

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